As of: February 9, 2024, 6:00 a.m
By: Christina Jachert-Maier
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Split
The golf course in Piesenkam is divided by the district road.
The operator wants to give up the northern part, which borders on the Moar Alm.
© THOMAS PLETTENBERG
As a private citizen, Josef Solleder is a pioneer with a solar park next to his home in Point near Schaftlach.
Meanwhile, he is making plans for a much larger civic project with the energy cooperative.
Discussions are underway regarding the use of areas that still belong to the golf course.
Waakirchen
– In order to advance the energy transition, Josef Solleder is not afraid of taking any risks.
Instead of waiting for approval for the solar park next to his home in Point, he ordered the photovoltaic system in December.
“Individual components such as the transformer station have a delivery time of 60 weeks,” he reports.
An advance payment had to be made.
“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll have wasted a lot of money.”
Self-directed pilot project
The total investment for the PV park with 1,720 modules and an estimated annual output of one million kilowatt hours is 700,000 euros.
Depending on the price of electricity, the system can be paid off in ten or even 15 years.
But Solleder doesn't just strive for financial gain.
He founded the Waakirchen-Schhaftlach energy cooperative in 2011 to promote the use of solar power in his hometown.
The cooperative, a citizens' project, installed seven PV systems on municipal buildings.
But Solleder wants more: PV modules in open spaces, in the hands of citizens.
Because a private individual can act faster than a cooperative, he started the pilot project on his own.
The energy cooperative with Josef Solleder (l.) and Gerhard Kocher has the idea of building a citizens' PV park on the site.
© THOMAS PLETTENBERG
Approval process almost completed
This is now very close to realization.
“It’s going well,” says Solleder.
As reported, the Waakirchen local council has unanimously decided to designate a special Energie Point Süd area.
The area belongs to Solleder, it is a green meadow next to his house.
A positive environmental report has been available since January.
The signals from the authorities are green.
“I expect the final approval to be given in early to mid-March,” explains Solleder.
The system is expected to be built this year and will probably not go into operation until 2025. This is due to the long delivery times, but also to the fact that the system can only go online after extensive certification.
Solleder will sell the electricity through a direct marketer.
Sheep should graze under a PV system
With the commissioning of the PV system, Solleder goes among the sheep farmers.
Over the summer, a small herd of around ten animals will graze under the PV modules and keep the grass short.
“I’ll build them a nice stable,” says Solleder.
His private open-space PV system will be the first in the landscape protection area in the Miesbach district.
The tough approval process cost him a lot of nerves, says Solleder.
“But now we know how to do it.”
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We, that is the energy cooperative, of which Solleder is chairman of the supervisory board.
Together with CEO Gerhard Kocher, he is aiming for a much larger project: the construction of a ground-mounted PV system with citizen participation.
The citizen wind farm in the Hofoldinger Forest serves as a model for financing.
During crowdfunding at the end of January, six million euros were raised within two and a half hours.
“Of course we observed that,” says Kocher.
For him, a citizen-owned system for generating renewable energy is the best option: “The money stays with the citizens and does not go to corporations.”
The golf course is to be moved entirely to the south side
However, it is extremely difficult to find suitable areas.
It's fitting that Karlheinz Krutz.
Operator of the golf course in Piesenkam, is considering giving up the northern part of the golf course.
A county road currently divides the square in half.
For safety reasons, Krutz would have to build an underpass or at least an above-ground crossing aid.
“We have the idea of moving everything to the south side,” reports Krutz.
But it should be an 18-hole course again.
Rezoning to a solar park is sought
This is how the idea came about to dedicate part of the golf course to a solar park.
There were initial discussions.
“But we are at the very beginning,” says Kocher.
Like Krutz, he has already spoken to Mayor Norbert Kerkel about the possibilities at the golf course.
Kerkel initially asked Krutz to present his ideas for redesigning the golf course to the local planning committee.
This is likely to trigger a controversial discussion: the unfulfilled demand for an underpass has been causing trouble for years.
In principle, Kerkel is not opposed to the idea of a PV park with citizen participation: “It is definitely worth considering in the context of the energy transition.”